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How can I separate, copy, and paste an item?


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I am having some difficulties finding the answer to what I would consider a simple process:

I am starting with a picture with a somewhat unique figure

IMG_0779-small.png.478dd8b681d1cb1fa99dfddd4aa38624.png

Now I would like to:

  1. Cut out that figure and paste it a couple of times so that it looks like there are actually several figures:
    1. When I use the Clone Brush tool, I end up with some background which should not be there.image.png.a5b81edb663a63eff081a6d1a1a1e682.png
    2. I managed to select  the  figure, but when I then copy and paste it, the figure is not a selectable item. In short, I can not select it and move it to a new position.
  2. It would be great if I knew how to cut out that figure and then work with it in a new layer. For example to:
    1. Size it, so that when I want to clone a whole bunch of items I can create the proper perspective.
    2. Colour it.
    3. etc.

I am sure it can be done with Affinity Photo. Just I don't know how. In the Affinity Photo Workbook there are several samples where cloned items are used. It just never tells me how to create the cloned item in the first place.

Any suggestions and thoughts on this are greatly appreciated.

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15 hours ago, Tahunga said:

When I use the Clone Brush tool, I end up with some background which should not be there

Of course, you need to use a significantly smaller brush, and clone only the figure, not the unwanted background.

 

15 hours ago, Tahunga said:

the figure is not a selectable item

Of course, cloning only copies/clones pixels from one location to another.

If you want to create a character as an object/item, you must select it (for example using the Flood Fill Select Tool + Refine) and copy/duplicate the contents of the selection.

Edited by Pšenda

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Pšenda,

Thanks for trying .... but as you say:

1 hour ago, Pšenda said:

If you want to create a character as an object/item, you must select it (for example using the Flood Fill Tool + Refine) and copy/duplicate the contents of the selection.

....I can easily select the figure using the Flood Fill Tool, but how do I copy/duplicate the content of the selection? When I hit Edit>Copy while looking at the Background image, absolutely nothing seems to happen. And when I hit Edit>Paste, again, nothing seems to happen. So how exactly do I select the "Selection of the figure" and how/where do I paste it to create an independent object/item?

 

Thomaso,

I don't quite understand what you mean by saying "click-drag on image for tolerance". As I mentioned above, I can easily select the figure by using the Selection Brush Tool. But once I have it selected in great detail, I need to be able to copy just that selected part of the image. And that's where I have problems.

So I would greatly appreciate it if you could give me a little more "step-by-step" instructions to copy the selection and then create an item I can further use.

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Hi, Tahunga...

After you copy and paste, you should see a new pixel layer in the Layers panel. Choose the Move tool and you can select the copied figure. You can move it wherever you’d like.

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5 hours ago, Tahunga said:

I can easily select the figure using the Flood Fill Tool,

Must be Flood Select Tool, Flood Fill Tool is typing error. 

 

5 hours ago, Tahunga said:

So how exactly do I select the "Selection of the figure" and how/where do I paste it to create an independent object/item?

See pages 390 - 394 in the Photo Workbook.

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8 hours ago, Tahunga said:

As I mentioned above, I can easily select the figure by using the Selection Brush Tool. But once I have it selected in great detail, I need to be able to copy just that selected part of the image. And that's where I have problems.

After making your 'marching ants' selection, make sure you have the correct layer selected in the Layers panel & that it is a "(Pixel)" layer. If it is an "(Image)" layer, convert it to a "(Pixel)" layer using one of the rasterize... options.

You should then be able to copy just the selection to the clipboard, so when you paste it, it pastes as a new layer.

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9 hours ago, Tahunga said:

Thomaso, I don't quite understand what you mean by saying "click-drag on image for tolerance".

It's just what it says. I recommend simply to try it:

Choose the Flood Select Tool (W)  > click on the person in your image > hold the mouse button pressed > drag the mouse > be surprised.
This dragging is an option only. You also can just click + release the mouse, then the currently defined tolerance (see toolbar) will be used.

Of cause your choice to use the Selection Brush Tool is perfect, too. It even lets you select more accurate especially to select areas of various colors and brightness – whereas in situations of low contrast content the Flood Select Tool can work sufficient and select faster.

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17 hours ago, Pšenda said:

See pages 390 - 394 in the Photo Workbook.

Pšenda,

Thanks for the reference to the Photo Workbook. Since I really am still a newbie and only got the workbook a week ago, I have not made it to that chapter. But now that you pointed to these pages I followed the description and finally managed to perform the process successfully ...

IMG_0779-final.thumb.png.4f9ffb2b709b79b460511dcadc2c2632.png

And many thanks to Smadell, R C-R,  and Thomaso for trying to help me with my challenge. I do appreciate it, and my learning curve, thanks to you all, looks like that of a jet with an after-burner going full power.

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You're welcome.

To make the cloned siluets look more realistic, try adding a shadow to them - just like the first/original one.

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I don't know if we do this on the Affinity Forum. But thanks to all the help I got relative to my question, I put together a brief "how to" for anyone who does have the same question in the future. Here then is my process to:

How to Cut/Copy/Paste individual Elements of an image:

  1. Open image.
  2. The Layers Panel shows Background (Pixel) which is the opened image.
  3. With the Selection Brush Tool (Tools Panel) select the item of interest in the image.
    1. Use "[" to reduce size of selection brush, and
    2. Use "]" to increase size of selection brush
  4. When a pretty good selection is achieved use Refine option
  5. In Refine Selection use:
    1. Preview
    2. When satisfied, set Output to New Layer
    3. Click Apply
  6. In Layers Panel Unlock and Select the Background Layer (the original picture)
  7. Select Pixel Layer in Layers Panel (which is the selected item)
  8. Select Move Tool (V) in tools panel
  9. In Document View click on the item (the item should now show a Selection Frame around it). The Selection Frame shows Handle Points which allow to size, move, and even turn the item.
  10. With the Selection Frame showing, one can:
    1. Copy and Paste the item onto the same picture (i.e. duplicate the item).
    2. Copy and Paste the item onto a different picture.

....hope this will be useful to other Forum Members.

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